History of Norwalk Community College

Norwalk Community College was the first public, two-year college established in Connecticut.

NCC is the result of a merger between two institutions: Norwalk Community College and Norwalk State Technical College.

Norwalk State Technical College was founded in 1961 with a mission of preparing graduates for immediate employment as engineering technicians in Connecticut’s businesses and industries. Primary fields of study included engineering technologies, manufacturing, construction, data processing and communication.

The original Norwalk Community College was founded in 1961 as a municipal college. The institution was initially based at Brien McMahon High School in Norwalk. In 1966, control of the college passed from the City of Norwalk to the State of Connecticut. The college moved to a site on Wilson Avenue in Norwalk and became a member of the Connecticut system of higher education.

In June 1989, groundbreaking officially took place for a new, permanent campus. The new facility on Richards Avenue was completed in time for Fall semester classes in 1991.

The NCC and NSTC campuses were both located on Richards Avenue, directly across the street from each other. On July 1, 1992, NCC and NSTC merged to become a comprehensive, public two-year college known as Norwalk Community-Technical College.

In 2000, Norwalk Community-Technical College was renamed Norwalk Community College to better reflect the institution’s role as a community resource and partner in the prosperity of Fairfield County.

In 1999, the NCC west campus was expanded to include the William H. Schwab Center for Information Technology. In 2010, the college broke ground on another expansion project, the Center for Science, Health and Wellness. This 55,000 square foot facility will open in Fall 2011. It will provide a new home to the growing Nursing and Allied Health Division program and state-of-the-art laboratories and classrooms for the science program. The center also will include faculty offices, a Health and Wellness center, studios and simulated hospital patient care rooms.

More than 170,000 students have attended NCC since it opened in 1961. More Fairfield County students attend NCC than any other college in Connecticut.